. >> we use corn as a feed for livestock, as a feed for poultry. when the price of corn goes up, that pushes up the price of just about everything that we buy at the supermarket. >> reporter: lots of other corn products we buy too from crayons to car tires, to shampoo and make-up. the consumer will pay the price. >> at this particular time, with a weak economy, a weak job market and weak wage gains, any increase in prices is something that's going to hurt more than it normally would. >> reporter: for now, life on the farms of america's heartland is just plain tough. life for many farmers as they sit and watch their crops dry up, all they can do is look to the heavens and pray for rain. for many of them, rain just isn't coming. >> what a sad story in for those family farms. kevin tibbles in waterloo iowa tonight. for more on the worst of it, where it's headed next, eric fisher is with us from washington, d.c., tonight whereby the way the temperature reached a high this afternoon of 101. eric, good evening. >> good evening, brian, at the risk of soun